


Isn't Love Supposed to Be Wonderful?

by fanderstothestanders



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Has Panic Attacks, Arguing, Food, Gen, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Jokes about murder, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Oneshot, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Swearing, Teasing, Teen! Prinxiety, parental logicality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:02:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22673764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanderstothestanders/pseuds/fanderstothestanders
Summary: Logan and Patton are the textbook definition of romantic soulmates- contented sweethearts who dote on each other and their teenage son, Virgil. They can defend love above all other things. Until Virgil has a tough day that makes him question everything he grew up knowing. Love is good. Soulmates love each other instantly. Parents have all the answers.Now, two Dads have to find a way to heal their child's heart, with a story they had hoped was behind them.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 7
Kudos: 213





	Isn't Love Supposed to Be Wonderful?

“Virge! Are you going to be joining us for dinner tonight or should I  _ leaf _ you alone!”

There was no response. Patton continued, “Aww well, I guess that one was more of a visual pun… I made your favorite salad to go with the spaghetti.”

Virgil's door remained just as it had when Patton had started his pleading nearly half an hour ago; closed firmly and locked.

Logan stood up from his chair in the living room and strolled to where his soulmate sat. He gently placed a hand on his love's shoulder.

“Patton, starlight, Virgil will come out when he's ready to talk. Until then, it's best not to worry ourselves further.”

“I know, honeybee, but it's so hard not to want to swoop in and be his hero like I did when he was little. And after he came storming in after his tutoring and all, I got overwhelmed… and a little desperate. I just want to know if he's okay, Loganberry.” Patton stood up and leaned a little on his husband for support from the whiplash of standing up so suddenly. 

Logan gave him a reassuring raise of his mouth and walked him over to the couch as if to say ‘he'll come to us when he's calm enough to talk. Let's make sure we're here and ready for when he does.’

The pair of men huddled close to one another, Logan's arms still resting on Patton's shoulders. It was a system they had used before, thankfully not-too-often as Virgil grew up and learned his dads were a  _ part _ of his support system. They would wait as late as it took for him to come out from his room and sit down on the floor in front of their legs, head leaning on Patton's calf and asking for their advice.

Usually, Logan knew, it was about schoolwork or the future. But recently, it became glaringly obvious that Virgil's worries were now stemming around love and soul marks and the whole idea of meeting whatever expectations his soulmate might have of him from their connection. Having a teenage child with chronic anxiety and depressive episodes was stressful for the pair of them, not that they would change anything about Virgil- he was their world in its entirety, but trying to tell him that his soulmate would care for him no matter the superficial expectations was not an easy process. It broke their hearts to see him so distraught over it; love was so simple for the two of them to defend, so natural and clearly good, they'd met when they were so young. But this was their sixteen-year-old boy, and nothing else was worth more than his joy. They sat silently cuddled together, both ignoring their own advice and fretting over their son.

Virgil sat staring down at his hands, eyes red. They followed to the spot, his spot. The soul mark just under his wrist, now alive with swirling color and motion, where just this morning there was only dull gray. The sun parting the clouds, his fathers had seen it the day it emerged and smiled. Lo had told him it meant that his soulmate would surely be the calm, assuring presence Virgil needed to make his anxieties feel slightly more at ease. Patton saw it as a sign his love would bring him all the joy of a sunbeam.

This was a good thing. Or it should have been. He'd hardly noticed it, but by the time he was walking home from his new tutoring job, it was suddenly bright and in his face. overwhelming and obvious- he'd met his soulmate. And they looked so shocked, so  _ afraid _ . His only response was to gather his books and go, shoving his chair in place abruptly and running for the door. He knew it was childish and stupid, but he wanted his dads. He got up slowly from the edge of the wall and tried to settle the shock in his nerves at leaving his room and seeing them both sitting on the couch watching.

“Dad, Papa?” he asked timidly, moving to sit at Patton's feet. They seemed to spring into action- one placing a hand on his shoulder, the other leaning to look him straight in the eyes.

“Hi, V. What's on your mind, kiddo?” Patton's sweet voice was just above a whisper, calm and quiet and warm.

“I… met him today. It happened. And he doesn't like me.” he could feel the wet, angry, terrible heat returning to his cheeks.

“ What do you mean by that, moonlight? Did one of your students react negatively towards you?” Logan asked, eyes tracing the worry lines of his son's forehead for the answer. Virgil shrank, head resting atop his tightly curled knees.

“You could say that, I guess, although it’s more than that,” he sighed with heavy melancholy. Patton perked up next to him, body shifted, brows furrowed.

“Virge, kiddo, is this about--?”

“My soulmate, yes,” Virgil spat acidly, “my soulmate who took one look at me and hated me, then made fun of my clothes and hair during our entire lesson on Classical mechanics? Then totally freaked when I shook his hand and this happened?” 

Virgil tugged up his sleeve to show his shocked parents the swirling reds and golds across his arm, cringing at the way the whole vulnerable situation dawned on his parents. He could feel the visceral reactions between them; Patton’s hands flying up to his mouth, Logan’s grip on his shoulder tightening, the unshakable feeling of their eyes locking over his head.

“Virgil, sweetie, I’m sure your soulmate doesn’t hate you.” Logan kept his voice even, calmingly rubbing circles in between his baby's shoulder blade.

Virgil was not sympathetic to his calm approach. “Yeah, Dad? Do you know that for certain? Were you there?” He spat, arm twisting tighter around Patton’s leg.

Logan kept his cool, brushing away the vitriol his clearly hurting child sent his way. “Virgil, we’ve been unfair to you.” Logan kept his cool watching the dazed head of his son whip around to face him. Logan maintained his cool when he caught the confused gaze of the love of his life.

“Dad? What are you talking about? You and Pops are the dictionary definition of soulmates, you’ve never told me any lies or anything bad about soulmates at all, for that matter.  _ How _ could you possibly have any grand wisdom on this?” Virgil was incredulous.

Logan kept his cool, ever calm in the face of danger. “Your father and I have, through no fault of our own, given you unreasonable expectations of interactions with this person.”

“Dad?”

Patton’s sea-blue eyes were still on the side of his head. Logan wished nothing more than to embrace his husband and tell Virgil everything would be perfect with this mystery idiot. But this was a cold, harsh reality that they just weren’t prepared for, much less one that either of them believed would affect their only child so soon.

“When Patton and I found each other, we had tremendous luck,” he began, moving his spectacles to rest on top of his head, “we were young, only a year or so older than you are now. I took one look at him, and I was lost to the world instantly. We had everything those movies you hate say everyone has- an immediate bond that is non-severable. Love at First Sight.” He caught himself sighing and righted himself. “We were among some of the first gay men in our hometown to be publicly in love with each other, at a time where, soulmate or not, it was frowned upon to be out. We had our happy ending, and it made it easy for us to celebrate, easy to come to the conclusion that nothing else mattered. So now, we don’t particularly like to talk about the difficult aspects. Or at least I don’t. We fought like Hell to be as happy as we are.”

“Lo-”

“-Patton, please. He needs to know he’ll be okay.” Logan reassured his husband before sinking to sit next to Virgil on the floor. “Virgil, soul connections are lucky. They make it easier for one to be vulnerable, and a knowledge of it can strengthen a relationship, that’s true. But, not all soulmates fall in love as quickly as Pops and I. Having a soulmate is just like any other relationship, it takes time, and work, and effort and all of your patience, sometimes. We were extremely fortunate to love each other instantly. I blame your father’s good nature rubbing off on me. We love you, and though it may be difficult and trying and hard to get past this first interaction, whoever this new person is in your life, I’m sure they’ll love you too. Love takes time, and love takes work- to paraphrase one of those cartoons your father and Uncle seem to enjoy so much.” Logan stood up, and hurried to the kitchen, quicker and with more of a choked expression than Virgil had ever seen in his life. He shifted to Patton, who merely ran a hand through his hair gently.

“Virge, honey. Your Dad went through a lot when the two of us got together. I don’t want to overstep and tell you something he wouldn’t want you to know, but he lost a lot of his support system when he fell in love with me and we decided to be together. So love and soulmates aren’t things he likes to argue about, it brings up too many bad memories for him. But, we love each other, and now we have you to love, and you have whoever this person is. I’ll bet he regrets acting mean to you. In my experience, meeting new people can be scary, so you do whatever you can to make sure you don’t get hurt. We all do it, honey, even you. Even me. Even your Dad. So, if he comes back, why don’t you try to start over with a clean slate. Forgive each other, and that will be your first act of love together. Or, I’ll stare him down, or call his parents…” He was pleased when Virgil let out a heavy chuckle. He smiled down at him.

“Okay, Popstar, I promise I’ll try. Is-is Dad gonna be okay?” He tried to peel his eyes away from his doting father to peer into the kitchen, but to no avail- the breakfast bar was blocking his vision. Patton did not seem concerned, however.

“Oh, yeah, he’ll be just fine. He tends to work these things out on his own, he’ll come back when he’s feeling more comfortable talking. He gets overwhelmed. He’ll be just fine, Virge. Now,” he shifted to lie on his stomach in a comical fashion, “tell me everything about his boy…”

Virgil found heat in his cheeks, and he was surprised to find he liked the feeling. “ Well, he hates psychology, for one.” He confided rather hotly. 

“Boo, I meant to tell me things that will make me like him! ‘Cuz right now, he’s not very high on my list… made my little butterfly cry,” Patton teased. 

“Well, his name is Roman, he’s taller than you but shorter than me. He’s a loudmouth- he never stopped talking once, even when I interrupted him to get back to the subject he’s apparently ‘cool with failing.’ He likes nature- insisted we sit by the window so he could be ‘inspired by the beauty of the outside world’. He’s actually pretty smart when he puts his money where his pretty-boy mouth is.”

“Oooh, you think he’s pretty~,” Patton giggled. “Honey,” he hollered into the kitchen, “Virgil said this boy’s pretty! Our only child has expressed physical attraction to a young man, whatever shall we do?”

“It’s too late for that,” came Logan’s perfect deadpan, “I’ve already decided where to hide his body.”


End file.
